March 1995, Volume 20, Issue 1–4, pp 165–169 | Cite as

Cell wall biochemistry in Archaea and its phylogenetic implications

Section 6. Origin And Structure Of The Membrane: Biological Aspects

Cellularization of a precellular ancestral condition of life must have occured separately for each of the three domains of life resulting in a protoarchaeon, a protobacterium and a protocaryon. Accordingly, a ‘first cell’, ancestral to the three domains of life has never existed. This statement is based on a retrospective evaluation of the distribution patterns of membrane lipids and of cell wall polymers with their different chemical nature and modes of biosynthesis in a global phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA sequence comparison.

Membrane lipids cell wall polymers chemical structure biosynthesis precells cellularization protoarchaeon protobacterium protocaryon origin of life

Dedicated to Professor Peter Sitte on the occasion of his 65th birthday.
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